When the ancient Polynesians invented surfing, they often used a paddle to help them navigate. Fast-forward a few millennia, and Stand-Up Paddleboarding, or SUP, finds itself trendy again. Part of its increasing popularity is that standing upright allows surfers to spot waves more easily and thus catch more of them, multiplying the fun factor. Paddling back to the wave becomes less of a strain as well. The ability to cruise along on flat inland water, surveying the sights, is another advantage. Finally, its a good core workout. If youre sold on the idea, schedule an intro SUP lesson, free with board and paddle rental, and you may find yourself riding the waves like a Polynesian king.More

Many of us remember coming home from our elementary schools with freshly glazed pinchpots, cups, or whatever else our young imaginations could conjure up. Saturday mornings at the Randall Museum can bring that memory back, or create a new one for the youngsters. Ceramics make great gifts — especially on Mothers' and Fathers' Day. Hop on board for the Randall's once-weekly class, and for $6 and two weeks to have your work fired and glazed, you'll have all the materials you need.More

Share

Latest in Best Of

An inconspicuous doorway off Valencia Street leads to a treasure trove of zines and 10,000-plus hours of sound and video recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, all charting the progressive history of the Bay and its effect on global radical movements.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Cultural institutions in San Francisco continually search for new acquisitions. Alexis Coe brings you the most important, often wondrous, sometimes bizarre, and occasionally downright vexing finds each week.

Last month, a crane operator was digging 110 feet below street level when an unusual rock in both shape and color gave him pause. Brandon Valasik called over his supervisor from the Transbay Transit Center, and in a subsequent whirlwind, nearly every publication in California excitedly reported the find to be a wooly mammoth tooth.

"Almost undoubtedly, it is not a wooly mammoth tooth," explained Peter Roopinaire, the curator of geology at the California Academy of Sciences. The wooly mammoth is by far the most famous of them all, but there were actually 10 mammoth species recognized worldwide, ranging in age from 5,000,000 to 3,700 years old.

The Department of Invertebrate Zoology & Geology received the tooth as a donation shortly after it was discovered, and the largest research division in the world sent it straight to the lab for inspection. After the specimen was cleaned and preserved, Roopinaire compiled a fact sheet in which he named the proper species: The upper left molar discovered by Valasik belonged to a Columbian mammoth. Well-preserved Mammuthus Columbi have also been discovered in the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, and can be seen at the nearby Page Museum.

"It's still incredibly exciting," Roopinaire was quick to point out.

The smooth-skinned mammoth roamed what we now call San Francisco over 150,000-8,000 years ago. The 5-10 ton mammoth enjoyed a habitat dominated by woodlands drained by several large rivers and myriad creeks. The 12-14 foot tall animal lived amongst rich fauna, including saber-toothed cats, horses, tapirs, wolves, camels, bison, and mastodons.

Teeth were essential to a mammoth's survival, and the molar is estimated to be 40 years old. Mammoths grew six sets of teeth during their lifetime, each one eventually wearing down until the animal was reduced to gumming at food before an inevitable death by starvation.

The Academy's collections span the globe, but it was founded on Gold Rush money, and it embraces the opportunity to explore the past on a local level. "Its interesting and important because it adds more to our reconstruction of San Francisco at the end of the Ice Age, when humans were just beginning to colonize," Roopinaire said.

The recent acquisition is the fourth mammoth tooth discovered in a city that developed in a mad dash during the Gold Rush, and then again for reconstruction after the 1906 earthquake and fire. New building in the Bay Area means far more than change from the ground up: It offers the rare opportunity to probe sediment for fossils, and the city requires that experts be on hand to identify potential finds. All four of the mammoth teeth are slated to be carbon dated soon, and the exhibitions team is already hard at work building a comprehensive picture of mammoths in San Francisco, a show we can all look forward to by the end of the year.

Like us on Facebook

Slideshows

Sub Pop recording artists 'clipping.' brought their brand of noise-driven experimental hip hop to the closing night of 2016's San Francisco Electronic Music Fest this past Sunday. The packed Brava Theater hosted an initially seated crowd that ended the night jumping and dancing against the front of the stage. The trio performed a set focused on their recently released Sci-Fi Horror concept album, 'Splendor & Misery', then delved into their dancier and more aggressive back catalogue, and recent single 'Wriggle'.
Opening performances included local experimental electronic duo 'Tujurikkuja' and computer music artist 'Madalyn Merkey.'"